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TRANSMUTATION OF THE MIND (1)
109
Two men were quarrelling. People gathered round them. They enquired as to what the matter was. One of them said he had been cheated by the other of a penny. The other asserted he had paid back the full amount. It was incredible--this quarrel over a penny! The close combat, the bad language, the beating, hundreds of onlookers gathered around them. A sensible man advanced towards one of the brawlers and said, "Good man, why fight so furiously just for a penny?" The brawler replied, “You don't understand! It's not really the question of a penny or two; rather of gratification. Of the immense satisfaction I derive from owning a penny and the excitement of the scuffle. It requires a connoisseur to fully appreciate the irresistible flavour of identification with an object!"
The question is how much attached a man is to an object and what gratification he derives therefrom. Unless we fully understand this phenomenon of identification, no progress towards equanir is possible.
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